My first ever race recap!
It turns out that this 10k is one of the hardest in the area.
I arrived in plenty of time and used the toilets multiple times. I placed myself near the back with a goal of under 1hr 30min and not being last.
The race started at 9:28am according to my watch. 2 min early so I wasn’t ready and my garmin took around 0.6 miles to locate my location so I could start it. I set my pace on my garmin at 13 min thinking that that was slower than I usually run and would get my to my goal.
0-1km (through town and castle)
I ran from the start and ran most of the first 1km frustrated at my garmin not yet working!
1-5km (through castle grounds & countryside)
This was up hill and I’d done no hill training at all. I felt I walk quite a bit of this section. I just made sure to keep people behind me. I was behind my pace by this point I think I had a few 15 min paces.
5-7km
This was all down hill and I made up most of my time here. It was all on grass and at first I thought, as it had been raining, I’d have to walk it but I didn’t 🙂
7-8km
This was the steepest section. Even regular runners mentioned this was hard. You couldn’t run it as it was too wet, once at the top there was too much mud so I had to walk and try not to fall over.
8-10km (though the castle and finishing in the town)
This again was downhill or flat. I could hear the cheering before I could see it and I found some extra energy as I rounded the corner and saw the finish as well as seeing Keith waiting for me.
My time was 1:23:43. Next year I hope to do it in 1:15
